Rail-joint.



W. M. STUART. RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE II, I913.

' 1.1%.WU. v Patented Apr.13,1915.

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Mme/43 r0 Purim-I ITHfl. WASHINGTON. D. C-

WILEY IVI. STUART, OF PERRYVILLE, ARKANSAS.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915..

Application filed .Tune 11, 1913. Serial No. 773,083.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILEY M. STUART, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Perryville, in the county of Perry and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail- Joints, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to rail joints and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide means for uniting the abutting ends of railway rails and to prevent the rails from spreading or sinking.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rail. chair for uniting the meeting ends of railway rails which will prevent the displacement of the rails and which will not require the use of belts or fish plates.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rail joint which will dispense with fish plates and bolts and which will prevent the pounding of the rolling stock as it passes over the joints of the rails, which will hold the rails in place by frictional contact, and which will be simple in construction, efficient in operation and which can be assembled or placed in position by unskilled labor.

These and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rail coupling made in accordance with my invention in position for use; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 8 is a detailed perspective view of the ends of the two members of the coupling disengaged.

Referring to the drawing for a more particular description of the invention, the numerals 1 designate the meeting ends of the railway rails and these rails may be of the usual construction without requiring bolt holes or any alteration.

My combined rail chair and coupling consist of two members a and b. The members a and b are each provided with a base portion 2 for supporting the base flange of the rail and inclined overlapping portions 3 to extend over the base flange of the rail, said portions 3 being separated to form a slot 4: to accommodate the web of the rails.

The member a of the coupling is provided with a vertical flange 5 which is adapted to lie flush with the tread surface of the rail 1, said flange having an extended portion 6 having a tongue 7 projecting from the end thereof and a locking lug 8 underneath the same with a notch or recess 9 between the locking lug and the end of the coupling.

The member Z) is provided with a projecting end 6' having a shoulder 10 provided with a recess 11 to receive the tongue 7. A recess 12 is formed in the projecting end 6 and to receive the locking lug 8. A recess 13 is formed in the end of the member 6 to receive the edge 1a of the member a. A base flange 15 is formed on each of the members and abutting shoulder 16 is formed on each of the members a and b.

Upon reference to Fig. 1 showing the coupling in side elevation, it is to be noted that the ends of the coupling members are curved as at 17 and 18. The members 8 and 13 are undercut as at 19 so that when in the position shown in Fig. 1, the two members interlock and cannot become accidentally separated. The side flanges 20 are adapted to be spiked down to the tie like flange 15, the spikes 21 being shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The manner of connecting the two members of the coupling may be described as follows: The base flange of one of the rail ends is forced into the space between the base 2 and portions 3 of the coupling 6 and the other rail is forced into the coupling a. By raising the two ends of the rails and the attached couplings, the locking lug 8 is engaged with the groove 13 and owing to the curved edges 17 and 18, the two members are brought into a horizontal position with the tongue 7 projecting into the groove 11. In this condition when the two rails are brought down onto the tie, the spikes 21 are driven to hold, the flanges l5 and 20.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that my invention is simple in construction, can be readily assembled by unskilled labor, can be taken apart by raising the rail ends after withdrawing the spikes, will not permit spreading, sinking or creeping of the rails and that the rolling stock will pass over the joint without pounding owing to the fact that the upper surface of the coupling is flush with the tread surface of the rails.

I claim:

1. A rail coupling comprising two members each having a rail chair member to inclose the base flanges of a rail at their meeting ends, said members each having a projecting portion provided with interlocking lugs, said lugs having rounded ends to permit the joining of the said'members,"one of said members having a tongue projecting therefrom and the otherhavinga grooveor recess to receive said tongue.

2. A rail joint including in combination, twomembers each ,providedwith a socket to receive the base of a rail end, a vertical flange extending from each, member, one of said members having an extending portion ending in a tongue, a. locking lug being formed below said portion and a recess vbeing formedbetweensaid 111g and the end of the member, said other member having a projecting lug and" a recess shoulder ending in a seat, said seat arranged to receive sai locking-111g, said projecting lug adapted to .seat within said recess, and said tongue ar- (fopies of this patent mayv be-obtainedfor-five cents each, by addressing; the Commissioner of'latents, Washington, .D. 0.?- 

